Come Back
by WriterFreak001
Summary: She knew she was running. She knew she was purposely pushing everyone away, but they had all gotten too close, and now every estranged moment she spent with them made the emptiness inside of her even bigger. SPOILER ALERT: CONTAINS SPOILERS REGARDING FUTURE, UN-AIRED EPS. (Spoilers are based on photos & videos provided by cast members on Instagram)
1. Chapter 1

**This sort of follows 3x22 and takes place somewhere within the last two episodes, respectfully.**

 **Based on all of the sneak peeks the cast has provided on the last two episodes; the safest assumption is that the team (including Paige and Ralph if Paige is still no longer on Scorpion's payroll at this point) will be involved in a major plane crash on a secluded island like Castaway. Soooo! This is my take on what** _ **could happen**_ **between Waige if they ever get their acts together by the finale.**

* * *

 **Come Back**

 **Written by WriterFreak001**

 **Part 1**

 **~ S** **CORPION ~**

It had been eight days since the plane went down, and they were nowhere close to contacting a rescue party. After hours of concentration, the geniuses were about to put their brains together and figure out a rough estimate as to where they might have crashed, but according to the pilot's map, the island – wherever the hell they were – was supposedly nonexistent. Their best guest: at least a few hundred miles east of the Philippines, but there was no way to know for sure. Perhaps they were not too far from the Mariana Islands. Perhaps they were closer to the Philippines than originally calculated. Perhaps they could wait a few more days before a plane passes overhead in search of them.

Somebody _had to know_ they were missing.

Richard Elia, the benefactor of this trip, must have figured out by now that they never reached their destination. Surely, he must have the best of the best searching for them, yes?

It had been eight days.

Chances of being rescued: 23 percent.

 **~ SCORPION ~**

For as much as possible, Paige kept her distance from Walter, and _only_ interacted with him if Ralph was involved, or if it was absolutely necessary. Otherwise, because _he had decided to fire her_ , she had absolutely no reason to speak to him anymore. Terminating her job terminated their friendship, and she would be damned if she ever risked her heart for him again. As _soon_ as they were off this goddamn island, Paige was going to completely cut that man out of her life. She would allow her son to have and maintain his relationship with him, but that was it.

She. Was. Done.

Absolutely, 100% done.

Walter O'Brien can go to hell for all she cared.

No longer did she feel like she was a part of the Scorpion family anymore so as much as possible, she steered clear of everybody. After all, what reason did she have to be their friend anymore?

Walter made it clear. She wasn't needed. And once the wedding was over, her job as the Ma'am of Honor was done. Other than being the mother of an exceptionally smart genius, there was nothing more she could offer them so why stay attached?

She knew she was running. She knew she was purposely pushing everyone away, but they had all gotten too close, and now every estranged moment she spent with them made the emptiness inside of her even bigger.

She had never felt so alone than she did on this island.

… **.**

Walter didn't know how long he had been staring, but this was the third time this morning he had caught himself watching her. Like every evening since they were stranded on this island, she had walked away from the group, and it was obvious she wanted nothing to do with the team. Typical. Just like every normal. He was a fool for trusting her and thinking she was different, and he wished he had never fallen in love with her because now that she was effectively removed from his life forever, he missed her terribly.

But she lied to him! Kept a secret from him for seven months and never bothered to bring it up once! He unknowingly spilled out his heart to her, and still _picked Tim_ even though it was damn obvious – now that he remembered everything completely – that she wasn't lying when she said she loved him too.

Even though he still loved her, even though there would be nobody else _ever_ , Walter couldn't have any sort of relationship with somebody he couldn't trust.

 _But if that was true, then he wouldn't never have forgiven Cabe and restored their relationship._

Walter shook his head and clenched his eyes shut as he racked his brain for clarity. _But this was different! This was_ _ **her**_ _._

"Walt?" Toby was waving his hand in front of the younger genius's eyes, "You okay?"

"Yeah," was all he said before attempting to walk away. Toby clutched his arm to stop him though.

"I wasn't going to say this because I didn't think it was important, but… I can see your decision to fire Paige is detrimental to _both of you_ , so I have something to confess, Walt, and it's eating away at me." Toby crossed his arms as Walter turned towards him, giving the shrink his undivided attention.

"What?" Walter's response was more clipped than it should have been, but he didn't apologize. He was on edge lately.

"I should have said something right away, but I thought this little break between the two of you might have been a healthy thing since it would have given both of you time to process things, but clearly you're sulking and she's eternally pissed, and if it's not too late to salvage any relationship the two of you have or had or might have, then I need to come clean and accept whatever wrath you might unleash on me if we ever get off of this isla—"

"Toby, you're rambling." Walter frowned, clearly annoyed with the newly married man.

"Right. Okay, so here it goes," Toby exhaled loudly. "When you were feeling better after your unexpected detour to space, when Paige had asked you about what you had remembered about Space, I have no doubt in my mind that she was going to tell you everything right then and there when you claimed you couldn't remember. But because she was dating Tim at the time, I feared the news of what happened in space – your confession, _her_ confession, your out-of-control and _very out of character_ behavior -would only make you spiral into WALTCON 1, so I quickly intervened and interrupted your conversation before she said anything more. And when you went downstairs upon my request, I told Paige to forget about space and never to bring it up. So she didn't, and that's why you never heard the Story of Space from her…. So… yeah. I'm an asshat for intervening, and if I unknowingly ruined things between you and Paige, I'm very, very sorry."

Walter clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, clearly angry as hell at Toby. "It doesn't change a thing. She _could have_ ignored your request, but she didn't."

"Dude, she had your best interest at heart! How can you overlook that!?" Toby threw his hands out, trying desperately to understand his friend. "If she didn't love you, she would be over this setback by now, and she wouldn't be estranging herself from everybody."

Walter couldn't help but look at Paige as Toby continued talking. "Once we're home, if we ever get there, Paige will more than likely cut all ties from you, Walt. _All ties_."

Walter suddenly found the hot air hard to breath. "E-Even Ralph?"

Toby shrugged. "It's possible."

"She wouldn't."

"Probably not because she loves her son way too much to disappoint him, but she might change her phone number and pay somebody else to drop him off at the garage. I definitely wouldn't put it past her, Walt. When any time you and Paige had an argument, what did she do?"

Walter gulped. "She threatened to leave."

"And why's that?"

 _Because her mother left and abandoned her when she was young, and her father died from a broken heart._ Walter brushed his hand through his wild, thick curls and sighed heavily. "I fucked up big time, didn't I?"

Toby slowly nodded. "You abandoned her, Walt. You might not think you did, and you probably didn't think about the emotional toll when you fired her, but you finally and effectively pushed her away. And because someone she _obviously_ loves made it clear he doesn't want her in his life, she doesn't have much left to hang on to, Walt. She's hanging by a thread because of Ralph, but that could change in one instant, and you could wake up one day, and they would be gone forever."

Walter blanched. That was the _last thing_ he wanted to happen.

"But she… she _lied_."

"Yes…. In a way she did, but you're no saint either, Walt. Does one lie really outweigh everything she's done for you? Believe it or not Walt, you're at your best when she's around, and now that she's not even when she's literally 100 feet away, you're starting to suck as a person – especially how you handled the _last case_ we had between that Mars fiasco and my wedding. Your muse for changing is gone so, unknowingly, you aren't as nice to other people anymore. Feelings aside, do you really think you can run this company without her?"

Walter noticed how the breezy wind blew lightly on Paige's long, tangled hair, and his heart ached when she suddenly buried her face into her knees. Toby was right. He _couldn't_ function without her. She was everything to him, and more, and even though she didn't tell him about space, that lie didn't deter his feelings for her. In fact, he was sure he loved her more _because_ of how much he'd missed her the past month. He needed to correct this. Losing Paige, and by extension, Ralph, forever was _not_ an option.

And before he knew it, he was running as fast as he possibly could towards her, but she was absolutely oblivious to it, but perhaps, for now, that was a good thing.

 **~ SCORPION ~**

Paige couldn't understand why he had fired her.

She had gone over the scenario a thousand times, but nothing made sense. She could understand if he wanted space… if he needed time to process everything, but he went too far. He _promised_ her she and Ralph would always have a home in Scorpion… but obviously, she fell for a delusion, and she fell hard.

 _Liaison._ That's all she ever was to him.

And now she was nothing.

She was such a goddamn fool because _once again_ , she just had to fall in love with a man who made her feel absolutely worthless.

She was done trying. She was done with falling in love. Because after Walter, she knew – deep down – there would be no one else. Walter had her heart; he had all of it, and even though she wanted to take it back, keep it from continuously shattering any time she thought of him, she couldn't.

Paige inhaled a deep, shaky breath as the beach water licked her toes again, and she swallowed the hard lump in her throat as she wiped away the quiet tears from her eyes, but they kept falling, and her stomach began to churn as her throat clenched tightly. And as she lowered her head and buried her face into her knees, for the first time in days, she balled her eyes out.

She didn't know love could hurt this much.

…

Walter drew closer to her and slowed his pace with every step. He could hear muffled sobs echoing from her as her body shook, and for the second time that day, he felt like the biggest moron in the world. He had been too rash that night without thinking things through properly. Before even discussing things with her, he jumped to the conclusion that she would be happy to take on a job with higher pay, but her reaction had been horribly miscalculated, and for days, he had analyzed that moment over and over again, not understanding why she was so upset with him.

He had her best interest at heart, and he knew that if she worked with Richard Elia, the tech mogul would have ensured Ralph's future. He really did think that was what she wanted since she started working for Scorpion – a safer, more secure environment for her son, and that was Walter was giving her. He loved her with every fiber of his being, and vowed to always look after her, but because she had lied to him, he really thought terminating her job at Scorpion and securing her a spot in Richard Elia's company was the best solution at the time.

Over and over while she had been dating Tim, she kept saying how she wished she was working with _normal_ people, and working for Elia would give her the financial security she needed as well as fulfill her wishes to live a normal life. But the way she reacted… how she told him to go to hell and had sworn she was done with Scorpion altogether… that wasn't something he calculated. That wasn't something he wanted to hear, and no matter how many times he had tried to talk to her, find out why she was so upset with him, he couldn't find the words to say nor summon the courage to speak to her.

Today, for some reason, was different though. Perhaps it was because of Toby's confession, perhaps it was because of his guilt, or perhaps… it was when he saw how broken Paige looked with her face hidden between her knees.

The sight alone was enough to break his heart in thousands of pieces, and he prayed he hadn't ruined their relationship forever.

Without a word, Walter cautiously took a seat next to her and stared at the ocean in silence. Hearing her broken cries made him feel even guiltier. Not knowing what else to say, he pinned his knees to his chest and rested his chin between them, his eyes never leaving the purple horizon.

And eventually, when he had summoned enough courage to speak, he apologized. "I'm sorry." The woman froze in place in response so he carefully continued. "I was an ass for not consulting things with you first about transferring your job to Elia's company. I shouldn't have acted so impulsively, and when we leave this island, I'll talk to him. You can have your job back if you want it…. It's clear to me now that I… still have to work on some things because… well… I was insensitive."

Without speaking to him, Paige rose to her feet and silently walked away from him.

"Paige?" She wouldn't even acknowledge him when he called after her, and that really, _really_ worried him. Walter sat there for a moment, watching her as she left before scrambling to his feet to briskly follow after her. Luckily, wherever she was headed was not somewhere the rest of the team could see from their position on the island. When he finally caught up to her, he tried to block her path. "Paige, I said I was _sorry_!"

Her eyes flamed with anger. "You really have no clue, do you!" She pushed past him and picked up her pace. "You think that's all I care about?! My job?!"

"That's why you're mad at me, isn't it?" He almost stumbled trying to keep up with her. "I transferred you to work for another company, and you were angry because of it."

"Go to hell," she spat, not wanting anything more to do with him.

"Paige!" He grabbed her wrist to stop her from running away, but she jerked her arm out of his clutch and slapped him. Hard.

"Just go back to your _precious Scorpion_ and leave me the hell alone!"

He froze and touched his tender, stinging cheek as she marched away from him, but he had lost her twice already. He wasn't going to give up now. Plus, he totally deserved that slap; he always did when it came to her. When the shock finally wore off, he took off again and caught up to her, and before she could whirl away from him, he gripped both of her arms tightly, somehow needing her to see reason.

And there it was. Their eyes connecting like magnets drawn together, and he could see all of the hurt and pain he had caused her to feel, and she could see the confusion, regret and worry deep within his. "Paige," his voice broke as he clutched her tightly as though she was the only thing keeping him from falling to his knees, " _Please_." He was begging now. He exhaled loudly as he struggled to express himself. "I'm sorry. For everything. For firing you. For being insensitive. For… For abandoning you when I promised, all those years ago, that I wouldn't…. I can't take back what I've done, but _please_ ," his fingers curled around her thin arms as if she was his only lifeline, " _please come back_. I can't do this… _any of this_ … without you."

Paige could feel the desperate need in his clutch and sucked in a quiet breath as his palms found her cheeks.

"Please, Paige," he whispered lowly, "come back."

Paige felt lightheaded and found her hands covering his own as the dying sunset highlighted some of his features. She inhaled a quivering breath and wanted to vomit as she forced his hands away from her face. He would never be anything more to her ever again. The cycle needed to stop now before she lost her resolve. He would never hurt her again. She closed her eyes as he frowned, fear striking his coffee-brown irises. It was now or never.

"No."

And before he could say or do anything, she ran away, leaving the genius alone in the fading darkness.

 **~ SCORPION ~**

* * *

 **HAVE NO FEAR! THIS WILL HAVE A HAPPY ENDING! There will be at least 2 chapters total, but depending on how long chapter 2 gets, I may extend it to 3 chapters instead.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm so surprised at the pleasant response for this fic! THANK YOU! After planning the story out, I think it'll have a total of four,** _ **maaaybe**_ **five, chapters. :)**

 **Just so you know, this story has a lot of internal monologue and almost no dialogue.**

 **Also, parts of this chapter and the next are written a little bit differently than my other stories because both Walter and Paige will be undergoing a lot of soul searching in the next two chapters. Let's just say… they're both visited – inside their minds – by another character in Scorpion that tries to help them sort things out and see things from the other's point of view. (You'll see what I mean when you read it.)**

 **Again, as always, read and review!**

* * *

 **Come Back**

 **Written by WriterFreak001**

 **Part 2**

 **~ S** **CORPION ~**

That stupid, idiotic, moron!

Paige desperately needed a pillow to scream into. She wanted a diary to write down every single little thought flooding through her mind at the moment because oh, did she have a lot of them! She stomped around the island for God knows how long, determined to march as far away from Walter as humanly possible. She just could _not_ deal with him right now, and she hoped she wouldn't to deal with him again _ever_!

Being around him in any capacity was just too painful to endure, and if it wasn't for Richard Elia's _insistence_ that she attended Team Scorpion on this mission due to her past history with the team, she and Ralph would be home and safe and sound and not deserted on a goddamn, freaking island!

She screamed in aggravation.

Her life absolutely sucked big time.

Paige wondered aimlessly along the beach as the chilly water splashed her feet, making the sand underneath sink under her toes. What she would do for a decent pair of shoes right about now. She really wished he had more than pumps in her bag because breaking the heels off the second day after the crash was _not_ something she was very happy about, especially since they were her most expensive pair.

Paige knew she would have to turn back eventually to make sure Ralph had eaten some dinner and was comfortable for the rest of the night, but gosh, she was just so mad, she could punch her feet into the sand for hours!

What the hell made him think a simple apology would fix everything?! The nerve of that guy!

Paige exhaled loudly, all of the air in her lungs flaring out of her nostrils and brushing down her neck. She swore smoke was coming out of her ears as that man's face protruded her mind.

He claimed he was better with his EQ now. He claimed he didn't need her anymore, but what does he do?! He freaking evicted her! That's what! He evicted her from her job…, his stupid company…, from his dumb cyclone…, his whole, moronic life!

She would be _damned_ if she ever accepted his apology and to pretend as if nothing happened that night. Absolutely, eternally, irrevocably damned.

And yet…, she still loved him.

Paige inhaled a deep breath and slowed down as her heart clenched in agony. Yes, she loved him. To death, even. She would always love him no matter how much emotional pain she would have to endure because of him, but… despite how she felt, there was _no way_ in hell she was going to place her heart on the line for him again. She just couldn't handle the heartbreak anymore.

He had his chance to be with her… to love her and be _her_ person, but he blew it.

He really blew it.

 _But you lied to him… Of course, he would have reacted that way, idiot._

Oh great. She was going crazy. Now Happy was chewing her out inside her own mind!

 _He was betrayed by the one person he trusted more than anyone. So why the heck are you mad at_ _ **him**_ _for responding the only way he knew how? I'm disappointed in you, Dineen. You should have expected this outcome. After all, despite your differences, you two actually have something in common. I know. What a_ _ **real**_ _shocker! Like it or not, Walter pushes away when he's scared. Just. Like. You._

Paige combed her fingers through her hair and blew out a slow breath of air as she spotted a tiny white crab crawling towards the water. It tripped over a rock, and its legs wiggled lively until it managed to flip back over. The crab then continued its journey as if nothing happened.

She sighed as her eyes settled on the glittery horizon beyond the ocean. A group of birds cawed as they flew towards the evening glow, free and unburdened.

Yes, she had lied. And _yes_ , she had neglected to say anything about, but it wasn't because she didn't want to…. If Toby had only kept his psychobabble to himself and allowed things to play out according to _her_ plans, _none of this_ would have happened. And why the hell did Walter not place any blame on the rest of the team? Why didn't he fire them too?! She wasn't the _only one_ who kept secrets from him! So why did Walter O'Brien take everything out on _just_ her?!

She let out an emotionless laugh, "Mark Collins was right about Walter…," she heard herself say to the wind, "He only kept me around long enough until I wasn't needed anymore and then casted me aside like I was nothing." She let out another laugh. " _Who is the liar now?_ "

 _He didn't lie to you, Dineen._

There's that Happy voice inside her head again. She must be _really_ going bonkers crazy.

 _Walter ensured you a job at a higher paying company with more benefits than he could ever offer you and Ralph. He might have fired you from his company, but he didn't kick you to the curb. So stop making him the bad guy. His methods might be… unorthodox, but in his mind, he meant well. Probably... Maybe… Perhaps not…_ _ **But the point is**_ _, Walt had kept his promise… just not in the way you expected or hoped._

But he _still_ fired her when he _knew_ how much she cared for everybody on his team. Scorpion had been her home away from home, and he had taken that away from her… perhaps forever.

 _Are you deaf, Dineen? He just apologized not an hour ago and even offered your old job back! Stop over-dramatizing things. He apologized. Get over yourself already._

Paige wanted to plug her ears or find some way to push this imaginative version of Happy outside of her mind, but no matter how much she tried racking her brain, Happy's voice continued. Stubborn, just like the woman Paige's subconscious was personifying.

 _For Walter, apologizing should mean everything. He doesn't apologize often, and hardly ever does he admit he's wrong. He's done both in two minutes for you, and you just left him there like an unwanted piece of molded cheese, pretending as if he didn't just open up his heart to you and beg you to return to Scorpion._

The former liaison stiffened from her own thoughts.

The whole reason Walter hired her three years ago was because she appeared different to him than a _normal_ person. She tried connecting to Ralph even though she couldn't understand him, and she never gave up. That virtue was the main reason _why_ she was asked to join Scorpion, and in spite of the _pleasant_ weeks she and Walter had been through, she had lost sight of that special quality.

"It's no wonder Walter fired you…," she found her voice reprimanding herself. "You're not the same woman he hired three years ago, and you've destabilized his cyclone. Ever since you met Tim, you've been more selfish and scrutinized everything Walter and the other geniuses did. You became short-sighted and impatient with him. All of them." Paige blinked back her tears and frowned deeply. "Good going Paige." She fanned herself to ease the stinging in her eyes as she tried her hardest not to cry.

The one person who put up with _everything_ she had done, said, or been the last year was trying his hardest to reconcile with her, and she blew it by walking away without giving him another chance.

He had given her a second chance in life by offering her a job three years ago. Why wasn't she able to do the same for him?

Paige dragged her feet in the sand slowly, wishing she was home in her soft bed, safe. She felt so exposed on this island as if the world was watching her crumble within.

She was such a hot mess.

She clenched her fists tightly and inhaled a shaky breath as her tears threatened to fall.

Uncontrollably, her lips then quivered, and she instantaneously dropped to the ground as if her world had just collapsed around her.

This must be what failure felt like.

…

Paige didn't remember pulling herself together or starting to make her way back, but somehow, she did. She was like a ghost floating in the silver light of the moon, devoid of all emotion. Her eyes were lifeless, drained from crying.

She couldn't remember how she had gotten where she was, and her throat was too dry to call out to anybody. She turned slowly and squinted towards the woods, just barely making out the rock formation she was sure she passed after her argument with Walter. Not seeing any other option, she sauntered over towards the edge of the woods, but it was too dark to tell how far it was from the beach.

So she turned away and returned to the shore, thinking her best bet to find camp was to keep walking on sand.

And then she saw a figure in the distance, and her heart pulsed faster. Had Walter really been waiting all this time for her? Paige wanted to call out his name, but no voice came out. She wanted to run towards him, but her energy was almost zapped to zero, and she couldn't afford to collapse yet. At least not until he knew she was there.

She felt her cheeks warm and her breath went ragged. Her feet felt like heavy deadweights, and no matter how much she trudged through the sand, he seemed further and further away. Her eyes stung with hot tears as she reached out towards him, but he seemed so unreachable. She began to panic.

She called his name out louder, her head pounding violently inside her mind as everything around her tilted from her body hurling towards the ground.

The last thing she heard was Walter shouting her name in fierce panic before she slipped into darkness.

~ **SCORPION** ~

* * *

 **DUN DUN DUNNNNN!**

 **Sooooo… whaddya think happened to Paige? ^_^Any theories?**

 **Also please read this important message below:**

 **While I generally do plan to update and complete this story relatively quickly since it's time sensitive, please do not leave a review telling me to update immediately or as soon as possible or demand I have a chapter written and posted the same day you read the previous one.**

 **I'm not a typing machine, and while I wish I could have more time to write fanfiction on a daily basis, I work three jobs and have been ill for the past few weeks.**

 **The updates will come when they come so please be patient if you're waiting on a story that hasn't been updated in a while. I am slowly working on them.**

 **The only story that I might discontinue is "Poaching" because of how different it is from canon. I can't seem to get back into the groove for that story…, but who knows. Maybe my muse will find me again.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for the delay! The plan was to have this posted before the finale, but I've been sick on and off these past few weeks and just didn't have the brain power to write.**

 **I don't know when I'll be posting to FFN / AO3 again because I'm having some minor surgery tomorrow, and I don't know how I'll be feeling afterwards so this might be my last update for a few days (hopefully only a few days).**

 **Keep in mind that this is different than how the last three episodes panned out. Initially, the start of this fic had a different time lapse than the actual series, but I've updated the other two chapters because it works better to have a month between the events of 3x22 and the start the fic rather than just one week.**

 **Also, in this chapter, I hint the premise of my next multi-chapter after I've updated / completed my other WIPs. See if you can figure it out. ;)**

* * *

 **Come Back**

 **Written by WriterFreak001**

 **Part 3**

 **~ S** **CORPION ~**

Not long after Paige had stormed away from him, Walter had marched off in the opposite direction, angry at himself for screwing everything up. If _only_ he knew how to process the crap load of emotions he was feeling the day he had found out about space, then he and Paige wouldn't be in this mess.

First of all, yes, he had been humiliated beyond humiliation after remembering his time in space, but the humiliation was only temporary, and it died off hours after the discovery. But the pain and the anger he felt? Those didn't go away on their own. In order to assess the situation objectively, he had no choice but to suppress every EQ related thing Paige had ever taught him, and once he had done that, the solution to the ridding of his emotional turmoil was easy to determine.

He had to cut ties with the source.

And so he did.

But because he neglected to allow his emotions to resurface when he confronted Paige, the execution of his decision was poorly given, and his insensitivity sent Paige – and by extension, Ralph – running out the door. In that moment, though the fear of her being gone forever was still there, he felt nothing for her. He tried to stop her from running out because she was acting irrational. Her sudden teary response confused him and sent him into a three-day bender in trying to analyze her reaction, but when he couldn't figure it out, when he had been sent into a spiral of frustration after frustration, he began to seek comfort in science and math again.

And down into the rabbit hole he went for another three days until Happy stopped by to check on him. It took her almost two days to bring him out of it completely, and he had to beg her not to tell anybody about it – especially Paige. Luckily, for his sake, she kept her word.

When Cabe finally came around with cases, the case work seemed to have distracted Walter enough to keep him from going back under, but on the days the government didn't need Scorpion's assistance, he spent time emailing Richard Elia, asking for status updates on Paige. He knew he shouldn't have been all that nosey, but as his EQ slowly returned, he began to miss her terribly, and hearing about her… about how she was doing… what she was doing… how the job seemed to have been treating her… well, it helped with the distance.

Once, he even made it all the way to Elia's corporation building before chickening out, knowing she would probably throw a sharp desk object at him if she spotted him. But oh, how he wished he could just summon his courage to see her… and see Ralph. He desperately wanted to know how his former prodigy was doing.

And when he could finally feel everything again, when he realized just how much he needed her in his life, just how much she completed him… he remembered loving her, and now he couldn't stop. The love he felt for her was far more greater than it was when he pushed her off towards Tahoe with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

He wished he could take it all back; having her close to him was much preferable than the pain he was feeling without her. It didn't compare. Life without Paige was exponentially worse.

He found himself turned towards the ocean, his feet digging into the dry sand.

He inwardly cursed himself.

Paige was never coming back to him… and it was all his fault.

 _Stop being such a Debby downer. It's killing me here._

Walter blinked in confusion and shook away his thoughts. There's no way… absolutely no way… Impossible. But – just to make sure… the genius spun around quickly, not sure what he was expecting, but finding himself alone.

He exhaled softly and continued walking aimlessly.

Toby was right. If Walter didn't act quickly, Paige would be out of his life forever. Obviously, he frowned, obviously he didn't act soon enough, and once they were off this island, they would go their separate ways, and he would never see her nor Ralph again.

 _Honestly, if you're so convinced you're never going to see her again, then why are you standing here sulking instead of chasing after her? Does YOLO mean nothing to you? What about Carpe Diem? Oh, wait, I think you skipped that literature lesson._

The genius stopped dead in his tracks and racked his brain. Paige must have slapped him harder than he thought, because he swore he heard…. No! He shook his head again, refusing to believe what he was about to acknowledge. It was strictly impossible for –

 _Jeez, Walter. Stop thinking too hard. Just pretend you know what's happening and go with it. Just this once._

He exhaled loudly and muttered, "She's not really here. She's not really here."

 _Of course, I'm not, Lil Bro. I'm dead. Communication between the living and the dead is impossible. You know that. I know that. Stop thinking you're crazy, and just go with what's going on._

Walter brought his index fingers to his ears and tapped on his canals. What the heck was going on? Oh! "Obviously, you're not real; of course, you're not real. Why would I even think you were?" He chuckled to himself, and wondered if he had finally lost it, being on this goddamn island for far too long. "You must be some sort of figment of my subconscious manifested in my mind to help me assess my romantic life."

 _If that's what you think I am, go for it. No idea what you're talking about, but let's not go off on tangent. First of all, you suck at taking advice. I told you, what, a year ago, not to be afraid of love, and yet here you are…_

"I'm a moron, yes I know. I discovered my feelings for Paige far later than everyone expected, but had she not started dating…, his teeth clenched, another person, we would _not_ be in this predicament today!" Walter wanted to slam his fist into Tim's face for everything he was feeling.

 _And whose fault was that?_

"Huh?"

 _From what the little birdies tell me, you had a chance to tell Paige how you felt when you presented jazz tickets to Paige. And what did you do?_

Walter pursed his lips together, already knowing the answer. "Okay, fine. It was my fault for pushing her towards _him_ , I get that, but… she had only been dating him for a few weeks when she found out about my feelings for her. Why didn't she break up with him? We… she and I… we share this connection. We always have, and I don't believe it for a second she doesn't feel the same way I do. I might be new to love, but… Schrodinger… and… and her eyes…. My eyes…. It all doesn't make sense. Why would she continue dating him? I understand Toby told her not to tell me the truth about space, but… but she could have still told me. Toby doesn't control her. No one controls her…. So why did she – of all people – left me in the dark?"

He could imagine his sister rolling her eyes dramatically. _Walter, I understand your confusion, and you have a right to be confused, but… have you ever considered that the reason Paige agreed to keep the truth to herself was because she was afraid of it?_

Walter frowned. "No. Why would she be?"

 _Based on Paige's reaction to everything up to this point; it's obvious she loves you. No question about it. But, if you remember, she's been burned before…, and if she allowed herself to accept your feelings from that night before you were ready to tell her, the chance of you denying those feelings while you were conscious would be higher. She obviously wasn't ready to take a risk with you yet, just as you weren't ready to take one with her…._

Walter closed his eyes and let out a groan of frustration into his hands. "And yet, now she knows, and now she knows my feelings for her remain unchanged, but she still hates me. Granted, I did fire her in the worst of ways, but it's been over a month…. Surely, she should have gotten over it by now…."

 _Hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn…. Walter, you're missing the point. Paige is not like you. She doesn't process emotion the same way, and you know that. Even the most EQ of people have difficulties processing matters of the heart. And she might have gotten over it, especially if she gave you a chance to apologize for being an ass towards her, but she might be struggling with a deeper issue. Something much larger than you firing her._

Walter froze. Mind Megan was saying the exact same thing Toby was earlier. He abandoned her… just like everyone else before him in her life, he abandoned her.

 _Bingo. But, that's only tip of the iceberg Walter. You're thinking too objectively. Try applying empathy into the equation. If you do that, you'll understand._

And then his thoughts went quiet. He closed his eyes and focused on his own memories of abandonment. His parents. His teachers. His extended family. Past friends. Past girlfriends (not that there were many). Different situations, but the same result. Each time someone pushed him away, called him names, thought he was weird, he could always remember thinking the same question over and over and over again. 'Is there something wrong with me?'

Walter's eyes snapped open.

He never ran so fast towards her in his life.

* * *

"How is she?" Walter inquired for the fifth time since he had carried Paige to Toby. "Why did she fall? Why are her cheeks flushed and her breathing ragged? Will she be okay? Is she okay? Does she need anything? W-when will she wake up?"

Toby handed a damp cloth to Ralph and politely asked the boy to wet it again. As Ralph raced off towards the water, Toby turned towards Walter to address his onslaught of questions. "Paige will be fine in the morning. She was very dehydrated, but she's going to be okay. I brought a few units of IV treatment with me just in case they were needed, so two units should be enough…. But she will need to stay here until both units are finished. Hopefully, by that time, she will need to urinate, and if she does, then that's a good sign. It means her body's able to retain the IV fluids naturally."

"Okay," Walter nodded swiftly, swallowing thickly. "Is there anything I can do?"

Toby smiled. "Just stay here with her. Keep checking her pulse every thirty minutes and let me know if there's a drastic change. Also, let me know when she wakes up. I'm going to search for another blanket. Until her body regulates, she might be extra cold tonight even with the fire lit. I'm going to have Cabe and Scottie fetch some fresh water from that spring deeper in the forest. When she's awake and the IV has finished its course, then she will need to drink lots of water to ensure her body is able to cycle it through naturally."

"Okay," was Walter's only response.

"Here's the rag, Toby!" Ralph exclaimed, the water from the cloth dripping onto Walter's shoulder. Toby turned to the side and wrung it out a little bit more before placing it on top of Paige's head. When the shrink got up to leave, Ralph sat down next to Walter.

"You really hurt my mom…."

"I know."

"But she hurt you too."

"Yes… she did."

Ralph was silent for a moment as he eyed his mentor holding his mother's hand. "Will she be okay?"

"In time, hopefully. Toby said she's just dehydrated and has given her IV treatment." Walter answered, yawning a little bit. He turned towards Ralph who was now watching his mother's face intently.

Another moment of silence passed.

"She loves you, you know?"

"I know," Walter nodded.

Ralph didn't need to state his next thought. Instead, he said, "Be sure to tell her you love her too."

Walter patted the boy's back gently. A smile colored his lips. "I will."

 **~ SCORPION ~**

* * *

 **ONE MORE CHAPTER LEFT!**

 **Please let me know what you think about this chapter! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Turns out my surgery wasn't as extensive as I thought it would be. Waiting for the pathology, however, is painfully worse.**

 **Anyway, thank you so much to all of you who have followed this story, and thank you ESPECIALLY to those who have reviewed as well! :) They make me feel special and make me want to write more.**

 **I hope you enjoy the last chapter to this story. My next project is to finish my other WIPs before starting any more multi-chapter stories. (We'll see how long that lasts though because I know I have another multi-chapter I wanna write during the summer.)**

* * *

 **Important note about the story:**

You may have picked a side after 3x23, thinking either Walter was right to fire Paige or Paige was right to run off. However, you see this ending, please cast those feelings aside while you read because this chapter will have both Paige and Walter express what they feel like they've done to wrong each other. You might agree and / or disagree with something either one of them say, and that's okay. More power to you. :) But please, no flames if you do find something you disagree with. The purpose of this fic is not to persuade one idea over the other. Thanks! XOXOXO

* * *

 **Come Back**

 **Written by WriterFreak001**

 **Part 4**

 **~ S** **CORPION ~**

Paige's eyes slowly fluttered open to the flickering of fire, and she immediately turned her head away from the brightness. Her sudden movement stirred Walter and Ralph awake, and in seconds, Ralph bolted from his spot to find Toby while Walter swiftly moved to her side and knelt down beside her, his eyes never moving away from hers.

The way his eyes bore into hers was unlike anything she's ever experienced. He was like Tarzan seeing a woman for the first time in his life. His eyes were cautiously curious as if he wanted to reach out and touch her, feel the softness of her skin against his fingertips, but he held back, guardedly keeping himself from moving closer… from holding her… from kissing her…. His eyes were filled with so much fire and conviction but were laced with worry and fear. She had never seen him so beside himself.

She never realized until that moment how much she desperately needed to hold him… to comfort him as he would comfort her. Maybe words weren't needed to express how sorry they were to each other, but she knew they needed to talk. To explain. To listen. To apologize for so many things.

The list was extensive, and if he was to accept her apology for everything she had ever done to wrong him in anyway, just looking into each other's eyes wasn't going to be enough, even if it was for him.

He surprised her. As if it was naturally, he brought the back of her hand to his lips and gently pressed a soft kiss below her middle knuckle. It was then that she noticed how their fingers were linked together securely, and how he squeezed it gently as though she was his lifeline…. Weakly, she squeezed his hand back, hoping her small gesture would comfort him.

Before either of them could say anything, Toby was kneeling beside her, checking her pulse. Walter abruptly moved out of the way as the shrink pushed past him recklessly, but as soon as the genius recovered from _almost_ eating dirt, his eyes were back on Paige's, and hers never moved from his direction.

"How are you feeling?"

Paige noted how Walter's lips pursed together, and she responded by slowly licking her parched lips.

"Paige," an intruding hand blocked her vision from Walter, forcing her to bring her attention elsewhere. Her eyes reluctantly found Toby's unamused face staring at her. "Did you hear me?"

She shook her head slowly.

Toby inhaled deeply and exhaled before repeating himself. "How are you feeling now?"

"I have a splitting headache," Paige responded irritably as she watched Walter move from around her feet to her other side. Her eyes found his again, and she felt like she could breathe once more. Without tearing away her laser focus from Walter, Paige somehow had the mind to ask, "What happened?"

"You were dehydrated," Toby muttered quietly. Walter nodded slowly as if to confirm Toby's assessment. "You might feel –" Rude fingers snapped in front of her nose. Once again, she found herself peering at Toby. He was not the one she wanted to speak to right now. His assessment could wait. Her words to Walter could not.

Suddenly, Walter's hand was holding hers again, and her annoyance disintegrated in milliseconds. How had she not noticed this effect he had on her?

"You might feel a bit weak," Toby continued as he examined her eyes, "since your body is still recovering, but after one more IV treatment, you should feel a little better in a few hours." He paused as he changed units. "Unfortunately, your headache might not go away for another day or so since I don't have a strong enough medicine to give you intravenously. I'm all out of oral pain meds since I gave my last dosage to Scotty a few days ago."

Toby lifted an eyebrow and glanced at her curiously.

"What?" Paige arched her own brow, mimicking his expression.

"By any chance…," he cringed for a split-second, "this is a medical related question by the way." He then saluted to her poorly and added, "Scout's honor," before continuing his inquiry. "Do you happen to need to go to the bathroom at all?"

Paige shook her head slowly, remembering vaguely that her doctor asked her the same thing many years ago when she needed an IV treatment prior to Ralph's birth. "No."

"Okay," Toby nodded with a small smile, and that worried her a little bit. "When you do, let me know."

"Okay," Paige quietly responded, hoping her worries were nothing to be concerned of. When the shrink _finally_ left, Paige's eyes moved towards Walter, but before she could say anything more, Ralph raced up to her, dropped down next to her where Toby once was.

His presence instantly brought a smile to her face despite the boy's obviously terrified expression. "H-Hey baby," she carefully lifted her hand and combed her fingers through his short, dark hair. Seeing the distress in the boy's eyes, she tried for a smile. "It's okay, Ralphy. I'm okay." She then placed her hand over his in hopes that she would comfort him, but he immediately moved away from her. Paige's smile fell instantly. "Ralph?"

"I'm… I'm going to help Toby with some things." And before he could be stopped, the boy scrambled to his feet again and raced off towards the rest of camp where the others were.

Paige started to push herself forward, but Walter stilled her. "He'll be all right. He's just… dealing with his emotions in his own way. He was really worried…," his eyes flicked towards the fire for a second before he looked back at her and added carefully, "We _both_ were." Walter instinctively squeezed her hand, letting her know his words were true.

She exhaled softly, knowing he wasn't going to let her chase after her son even if she tried. He was right, though. Her negligence to take care of herself while she was mad was careless, and Ralph was probably upset with her. She couldn't blame him; she'd be angry too. Perhaps Toby would be able to help Ralph see things more clearly than she would. Especially if he had medical knowledge about her current condition that could put Ralph's mind at ease. As soon as she gave him time to process everything and possibly sort things out with Toby, she would call him back over.

Right now, however, she _really_ needed to speak to Walter.

She pinned her bottom lip between her teeth as she watched him stare at the ground nervously. Then, all at once –

"Walter, I –"/ "Paige, I –"

Both genius and liaison paused and laughed awkwardly. "You first," Paige replied, but Walter shook his head.

"Mine can wait," Walter offered her a simple smile, and she nodded slowly.

Instead of arguing, she flashed a quick smile.

"Okay," Paige's voice trailed off for a moment as if she lost her train of thought, but she recovered quickly. "I'm sorry," was the first thing she knew she needed to say. "I was… I was a jerk to you. You apologized earlier for everything that happened last month, and I… I refused to accept it. I know…," she swallowed thickly, "I know you don't do anything without reason, and though I'm apologizing for _not_ accepting your apology the first time, I can't – I _won't_ – apologize for storming out of the office that night."

His fierce eyes met hers, and silence overtook them for a moment before she continued.

"What you said… how you said it… how insensitive you were… I was emotionally hurt, Walter. I understand that you needed distance, maybe more so than anybody, but… you treated me like the last three years never mattered, and that's what hurt the most. It was like… you were a different person, and I stormed out because," she blinked back her tears as her voice broke, "I stormed out because I was tired of my heart breaking over and over, and I understand you were hurting, Walter… Me lying to you, that wasn't fair. I should have told you about space… and I am deeply sorry for keeping it to myself for so long…

"The truth is…," Paige lightly bit her bottom lip, "I… I love you." Walter warmed up to her sudden revelation, but kept quiet as she continued. "I've been in love with you for a long time now, and I admit – for a while, I lost sight of my feelings for you, but even while I was dating Tim, I don't think I ever stopped…. And maybe that's why I never really felt anything but companionship for him…. He gave me what I've always wanted, but… I was slow to realize… _very slow_ to realize… he wasn't the one I wanted those things from….

"And after he and I broke up, I felt like you and I were getting close again… like we were actually heading somewhere, and I thought… I don't know… I thought you were on the same page as me… especially when we danced…, but when you fired me…," she blinked once, and a tear fell down her left cheek, "I felt let down again… like… no matter who it is, no matter who I want to date, there's something I'm always doing to screw everything up." She carefully lifted her free hand to wipe away her fallen tears. "I was mad at you, Walter, but I was angry at myself for failing you… failing our friendship… failing us, and I took that out on you in the worst way because I was afraid… afraid of giving you another chance, and for that, I'm incredibly sorry. I'm…," she swallowed the lump in her throat and let out a shaky breath. Talking… Apologizing… It was harder than she thought it would be. "I'm such an awful person."

"No," Walter immediately shook his head and squeezed her hand again. "No, you're not. You are one of the best people I know. You're strong. Courageous. Caring. Loving. Sometimes unbelievably quirky…. You have this unique way about yourself that I still can't figure out, and hell if I ever will," Walter gave her a gentle smile, and she let out a little laugh, swaying her head like she always did. He always did seem to find a way to warm up her heart whenever she was feeling down about herself.

"You were right to be angry with me, Paige," he continued, his eyes heavy with regret. "I've been an idiot for so long, and it's my fault for continuing to push you away whenever I was afraid of risk. I have a long history of that… with anybody I am close to…., and it wasn't fair for me to expect you to wait until I was capable of loving you the way you should be loved." He brought the back of her hand to his lips again and softly kissed her middle knuckle. His short whiskers tickled her skin, and she suppressed a giggle.

After a moment of just looking into her eyes, Walter continued. "The way I acted last month was uncalled for. Yes, I was hurting and confused as you said, but I had no right to treat you that way. To be honest, with everything I was feeling after remembering those memories, I couldn't… I couldn't process it. The emotions… they were eating me alive, and I didn't know how to handle them, so when I was in the loft alone, I willed myself to suppress my developed EQ.

"When I was only seeing logic, the logical answer was to fire you. And at that moment, I felt safe relying on logic so I followed that regime. I should have…," he paused, "I _shouldn't_ have fired you. That was hasty judgment on my part, and for that, I'm sorry." He then smiled a little, "You – in so many ways – are irreplaceable. I am so so so so sorry if I made you feel like you're not special or that you're not important, because _you are_ , Paige. You are _very_ important. To Scorpion _and_ to me. And I assure you," he added quickly, "there is _nothing_ , absolutely nothing wrong with you." He stopped when he spotted a tear falling down her cheek, and he reached over to wipe her face with this thumb. "Anyone in your life who have made you feel otherwise are imbeciles with sawdust for brains a-and-and peanuts for p—"

"Walter!" Paige's eyes were wide as she covered her mouth to stifle her laughter. She then glanced over towards camp where her son was helping Toby pester Sylvester while he was sleeping. She then snapped her attention back to Walter.

"P-poorly functioning male parts," Walter rambled out, causing Paige to hold back another laugh.

Paige laughing was always a good sign.

He lightly squeezed Paige's fingers and lowered his voice. "I said earlier that the reason I wanted you to work for Scorpion again had to do with the fact that the company didn't function well without you…, but… it's so much more than that..." He wanted to kiss her button-nose but abstained himself. "We've been solving cases together with the rest of the team for over three years now…, and things… the cases… they didn't feel right when I couldn't share the enjoyment of working them with you. Yes, you helped translate the world to me and vice versa on those cases, but…," he shrugged a little, "I guess I just… you were my comrade… my confidante. I could… I could share things with you about the case that I couldn't with anybody else. You simply got me. You understood me. You gave our cases more meaning because of how strongly you stressed how important it was to save everybody on our first unofficial case together…. and when I didn't have that… when I couldn't share the gratification with you, life at Scorpion – no. _My_ life was empty." Paige felt her eyes wavering. "You always… filled a void I didn't know I had until you were gone."

Walter clasped both hands over hers and gazed deeply into her eyes as she watched him carefully with bated breath. "I...," his lips suddenly curled into a smile, "I love you too, Paige. I have since shortly after we first met, and I know it took me a long time to get to this point, but I wouldn't change a thing – anything – because everything that had happened in the past – good or bad – has brought us to this moment…., and… even if you… if you would prefer if we remain friends…, that's okay. I just thought you should know where I stand with my feelings, and no matter how we proceed in the future, as friends or… not friends… or more than friends…," he swallowed hard, "those feelings… they won't ever change."

Paige's heart fluttered deep inside her chest, and her lips colored with a silly smile. Never had she known someone to be so romantic and serious at the same time.

She looked to their left then their right as if she was gauging how far they were from any live human being before bringing her attention back to the man in front of her. Oh, how she wished she could wrap her arms around his neck right now. Damn IV.

"Walter?"

"Hm?"

"Come here," she smirked slowly as she beckoned him to come closer with her index finger. Walter, careful not to knock into her IV tubes, crept a little bit closer, and she lifted an eyebrow in response, challenging him to move even closer. Awkwardly, the genius shifted more until he was lying down on the sand next to her. "There," she turned slightly to find his eyes, "That's it."

Without disrupting her IV, she lifted her left palm and caressed his face. He reveled in her touch as he cautiously draped an arm over her side, his fingers hanging loosely behind her back. He tugged himself closer until their noses touched.

Lightly, she kissed his lips and pulled away shyly before he moved in to kiss her again as though the first one wasn't enough to satiate him. His tongue swiped along her lower lip, and she parted her mouth, inviting him to kiss her deeper.

And when she felt his tongue stroke against hers gently, she thought she had died and gone to Heaven because hot damn. He turned her insides to goo, and she swore her brain was going to ooze out of her ears at any moment.

She suddenly froze.

Walter, sensing her distress, backed away a few inches. "What's wrong?"

"Call for Toby," Paige flushed deeply. "I have to pee now."

 **~ SCORPION ~**

* * *

 **And that's a wrap!**

 **I decided to end the story here because the focus was never about being trapped on the island, but rather the turmoil Walter and Paige were experiencing** _ **while**_ **being trapped on an island.**

 **I hope I have tackled each character's inner thoughts well, and that neither character's thoughts offended anyone.**

 **See you next time! :)**

 **Please review! :D**


End file.
